Tyler and Emily in PNG

With the season of Thanksgiving fast approaching, I find myself blessed and still counting the many reasons why I am thankful. The biggest development in my life over the past six months has been a new relationship with a girl from Montana. Her name is Emily Hinebauch. Emily is bright, beautiful, and well a wonderful cook. She knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

She is one of six children and four of them are boys. She has been through the mill when it comes to putting up with brothers always picking on her, though she is the second oldest. Emily is a missionary with PBT and acts as the resident Scripture Use Specialist. She serves on the field as a missionary in many other roles as well. Her humble, servant heart is what shows the most and is one of the key traits that caught my eye early on.

We officially meet at the airport when I flew into the Madang airport. She along with a few other teammates met me at the airport. She not only greeted me with a smile and a hello but with a hot cup of Papua New Guinea coffee. I knew right then that this person whom I have never met had to be special. Just as I, she enjoys a hot cup of Java; black without any additives.

As she was winning my heart by her fine cooking skills and lady charm, I started to win her heart with stories from Alaska. As Emily loves the cold, cool weather along with snow and mountains; my Alaskan adventure stories started to sound very appealing to her. I brought out all the stops and showed her all my Alaskan DVD adventures from kayaking in Prince William Sound to canoeing on the Yukon River. I think Emily was starting to fall in love with Alaska before she was falling in love with me.

It is apparent that God is crafting this relationship together. Neither one of us decided to leave the USA in search of love. It is our hearts desire to serve the Master and His Kingdom first. As we both shared stories, we both found out that we have been praying for many years for the right time and right person to come into our lives. I would never have thought I would have to fly away to some South Pacific jungle nation to find such a beautiful young lady with a heart sold out to God.

On the day I told Emily I wanted to pursue a deeper relationship with her, Emily was speechless and could not utter any other words than…Can we pray? As we prayed, I told Emily the only way this relationship we are beginning will work is if God in in the center of our lives.

It is my pleasure to introduce Emily and that you will please include the both of us in your prayers.

Please join us in prayer as we seek God’s wisdom and discernment in our relationship. Pray for God to ease any anxiety or stress and God to give patience in our growing relationship with one another.